STEEL
by yellow 14
Summary: With a new threat, a new set of guardians are needed. But can this bunch of misfits really save the world, or will they end up killing each other?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Much as I'd love to say I do, I don't own W.I.T.C.H.

Cornelia looked the strip of white paper and prayed for it to turn blue.

"Turn blue, turn blue, turn blue, please turn blue." She muttered under her breath. The strip turned red.

"Noooo!" she cried out quietly, but in truth, she knew it wasn't going to turn blue. Her period was two months overdue and she was shooting up bra sizes faster than she'd ever done. The pregnancy test in front of her merely confirmed what she, deep down already knew. It couldn't have come at a worse time either. Her ex boyfriend Caleb and one of her best friends Will had started dating and they were just right for each other, you could tell it by the glances they gave each other, the way they acted around each other, even in the way they kissed. No, she couldn't bring herself to break up their relationship, now they had finally gotten together, after denying their feelings for each other.

It had been roughly two months since Cornelia and Caleb had last slept together. It had been Cornelia's seventeenth birthday party and both of them had gotten pretty drunk. One thing had led to another and they ended up in bed with each other. Which was something they very specifically said that they weren't going to do, especially with their relationship on the rocks. Less than three weeks later, their relationship had fallen apart and they separated. Two weeks after that, she told Will that it was ok to date Caleb. Now it was Will and Caleb, not Cornelia and Caleb and there was nothing she could do about it.

A wave of loneliness swept over Cornelia. It wouldn't be fair to ask the other members of W.I.T.C.H to keep this secret from Will and Caleb. The same could be said for the various people who managed to attach themselves to W.I.T.C.H, through one way or another. Then it hit her out of the blue. She could always talk to Elyon about this. Yes, as soon as Elyon came over to visit next week, she would tell her.

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A young Asian woman watched as her Sya'tal friends swarmed her attackers. But they were too late to save her. She knew she was dying. All that mattered to her now was that her baby girl, Laura survived. Only a few days old, little Laura had captured Lisa's heart.

"Promise me you'll look after her until the time is right." She begged the approaching Sya'tal workers. "Promise me I beg you!"

"We will raise her like she was one of our own, friend Lisa. The hive will miss your presence." The Sya'tal replied in their mechanical voices.

"Thank you." She said with a small smile on her face. Less than three hours later she died, the Sya'tal medics had done all they could to make her last hours comfortable, for there was nothing more they could do. Her baby girl Laura was crying as the flood of voices overwhelmed her mind. In time she would adjust to the neuro link to the hive.

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"Elyon, hi!" Cornelia said as her friend emerged from the portal, a smile on her face. But Cornelia couldn't fool Elyon, Elyon knew her far to well for that.

"Cornelia, what's bothering you?" Elyon asked her in a commanding voice. Being queen had given her an aurora of authority over the years, in a way she never thought possible when she had started all those years ago. Cornelia gave Elyon a rueful smile.

"Never was good at fooling you, was I?" she answered, before continuing "Well…" She paused, unsure of how to continue. "I'm pregnant." She blurted out. A look of shock crossed Elyon's face.

"What!?!?!" she exclaimed. "But you're only seventeen! Are you sure?"

"Cornelia sighed. "Yes I'm sure. Three pregnancy tests, two missed periods and I'm shooting up bra sizes faster than I've ever done, so yes I'm sure."

"Does Caleb and the others know about this?" Elyon asked.

"No, I don't want them to either. I'm going to have an abortion. I won't be responsible for the break up of two of my friends." Cornelia replied

"Surely Caleb should know at least?" Elyon challenged.

"And then he'd insist on doing the right thing and marrying me. And all the time, wishing it was Will and not me. It would destroy us." Cornelia replied. "I won't do that."

"If you're sure…" Elyon said questioningly

"I'm sure. The abortion is happening this coming Wednesday." Cornelia answered with a firmness she didn't feel. Elyon raised a disbelieving eyebrow at this. "And if, by some chance I change my mind, I'd like someone to help me tell the others."

"Ok then." Elyon said.

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Rachel looked at the portal once more, then turned to face her husband.

"Is this really the only way Harry?" she asked, her voice filled with doubt.

Harry nodded. "It is, you know it as well as I do."

"But to raise our daughter in the past, how will she meet the other guardians?"

"We must trust the Oracle. Besides, I would rather our daughter have a chance to grow up, than be killed by the Sycaw before she can grow up at all."

Rachel smiled sadly at her husband's words. "I wish that she could grow up in her own time, but you are right. May Candracar help us all."

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Cornelia and Elyon sat in the waiting room waiting Cornelia's turn to be called in. Or rather Elyon was sitting, Cornelia was pacing like a trapped animal, her nervousness radiating from her.

"Cornelia Hale?" a nurse called from the doorway. Cornelia shot a look at Elyon, who gave her a reassuring look and Cornelia stepped towards the nurse, when suddenly she felt a sudden kick from the baby and suddenly she knew she couldn't do this. A sudden wave of unreasoning panic overtook her, in a way that she had never felt before and for no logical reason she fled the clinic, determined to escape. She drove her car out of there like a bat out of hell.

Elyon stared at the rapidly disappearing Volkswagen Beetle that was Cornelia's car with annoyance. "When I catch up with her, I'm really going to let her have it" She murmured to herself. Walking out the gates, she turned in the direction of the Silver Dragon and started to walk there.

Cornelia, meanwhile was beginning to calm down, her overriding sense of panic receding. Elyon would be furious at her and if Cornelia was honest with herself, she had every right to be. But there was no way Cornelia could go through with an abortion now, she couldn't do that to her child, no matter what. The enormity of what she was committing herself to hadn't quite sunk in yet, her brain seemed to be determined not to accept the facts.

"Face it Cornelia, you're going to be a teenage mum." She said to herself and then she let out a bitter laugh. "I'm seventeen years old and I'm about to become a single parent."

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Elyon walked into the Silver Dragon and was engulfed in a tight hug by Hay Lin, who still looked like she was to small to be real, despite all the growing up that she'd done.

"Hey, you're early, did you and Cornelia have a fight or something?" Hay Lin asked in a concerned voice. Elyon shook her head.

"Things didn't go as planned." Elyon paused. "Cornelia will be by later and she has something to tell you, all of you."

"Really? What?" Hay Lin asked curiously.

"Let's just say it's something she should tell all of you herself." Elyon replied cryptically.

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Cornelia was driving towards the Silver Dragon, firstly to apologise to Elyon, something she rarely did, preferring to pretend not to have made a mistake. The second reason was that she and Elyon had agreed to meet the others there and now she was on her way to tell them.

Cornelia focused on the stretch of road ahead. This part of the road was tricky, a tight turn beside the sea. A huge lorry came up behind her and started to push her car. Cornelia screamed and desperately turned hard on the steering wheel in an attempt to get out of the lorries way, but her car spun out of control and headed towards the barrier that was supposed to stop cars going into the sea. Even then, her car would have avoided going over, but the lorry driver had other ideas. The lorry rammed into her car a second time and Cornelia's car was sent flying off the cliff. The lorry driver, satisfied with his work, drove off.

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Will looked at her watch again and sighed. "Ok, I know I'm bad with timing but this is ridiculous. She's over two hours late."

"She's being a right diva isn't she? I vote we start without her." Irma added

"I second that." Hay Lin said as her stomach gave a grumble. But before they could say another word, a familiar face walked through the doors

"Dad!" Irma cried out in recognition, before noticing the grim look on his face. "What is it dad? Has something happened to mom? Or Chris?" Tom Lair shook his head.

"No, it's not them. It's your friend Cornelia." He paused, unsure of how to continue. "We've found her drivers license at the scene of what appears to be a road accident. A car went over the cliff at the Darrow turn and there's lots of debris from the car that went over, that is consistent with a Volkswagen Beetle."

"That's not conclusive proof though is it?" Irma challenged. Tom shook his head.

"No, but I thought you should know." He said.

"There's something you should know." piped up Elyon. The others turned to face her and she paused, unsure as to whether she should say any more, before deciding that this was a case where Cornelia would think it justified to break confidence. "Cornelia's two months pregnant."

A flurry of questions came at her. "Why didn't she tell us?" "Who's the father?" "Is this what she wanted to tell us?" "Do her family know?" She held up her hands to slow them down.

"She didn't tell you because she didn't want to tear you apart. Even she acknowledges that Will and Caleb belong together. She was going to have an abortion earlier today, but she suddenly changed her mind, for some reason. She didn't want anyone to know, so no her family doesn't know. Yes Caleb is the father, he's the only person who fits the bill." Elyon answered them.

"Well I hope she's ok, even if I do want to kill her for not telling us." Irma said, her voice clearly worried.

"Well Irma, let's hope you're right." Will added.

Several miles down the coast, a young woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes was washed up on the beach. With a groan, she rubbed her aching head and looked around her.

"Who am I?" she asked aloud. Then she looked around. "Where am I?" As she pulled herself to her feet, all she could remember was that she had to get away, but from whom or what she had no idea.

"Hey lady, you ok?" A muscular young man with short blonde hair and dark red eyes asked as he approached her.

"Yeah, I think so." She replied.

"What's your name?" he asked as he eyed her critically. She cast around her mind for a name to give him.

"Julia." She answered. It didn't feel completely right, but it was the only name she was able to think of. And she was far too proud to admit to a stranger that she couldn't even remember her name.

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Fourteen years later.

Detective Irma Lair looked at the scene of devastation that greeted her at the accident site. A truck had crashed into the fast food joint and killed the woman who had been working behind the counter at the time. Now, you'd be hard pressed to see whether the person was a man or woman. Irma turned to face the girl she was interviewing.

"So Rebecca, tell me what happened here, in your own time." She said.

"W-w-well Julia and I were running the late shift. Things were quiet and we were talking about fashion." Rebecca paused and Irma felt a twinge of nostalgia, remembering Cornelia's obsession with the subject. She had a feeling that she'd have gotten on well with Rebecca "When this truck comes spinning into the diner." Rebecca paused once more, as she broke down into tears. After a few moments, she composed herself once more and continued. "Anyway, the rear of the truck came flying at us and Julia, she threw me out of its path and the truck got her instead of me." Irma nodded at her.

"Thanks, that'll be all for now." Irma said calmly.

"But what about Julia's daughter?" Rebecca asked as Irma turned away.

"Daughter?" Irma asked as she turned to face Rebecca once more.

"Yeah, Julia's a mum." Rebecca paused, uncertain of how to continue. "A thirteen year old girl, who's a deaf mute. All they've got is each other."

Irma rubbed her head. "I'll go and pick her up after we're finished here, ok?"

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Two hours later

Irma looked at the block of decrepit looking flats in front of her and sighed. This wasn't a nice place to live, by any stretch of the imagination, but for many people at the bottom rung of society, it was all they could afford.

"Not exactly the Ritz, is it?" commented her partner Paul. At almost two meters in height, with short blonde hair and memorable grey eyes, Paul was a reassuring presence to have as back up. Not that Detective Lair needed it, but for legal reasons, she was required to be accompanied by another officer.

After knocking on the door several times, Irma removed the keys to the flat and opened the door. She'd been able to pursuade the coroners office to give them to her, from the corpse of the woman. Irma and Paul cautiously entered the building. As they entered the main room, a picture in the corner caught Irma's eye. It was a photograph of a mother and daughter, smiling at the camera. The daughter was a longhaired brunette with all to familiar green eyes and an oval face. But the mother was a face Irma certainly knew very well, even if she hadn't seen her for fourteen years, at least.

"Cornelia?" Irma murmured in disbelief as she moved towards the photograph and stared. But as she picked it up to get a better look, she heard the sound of a shotgun being cocked. Gently putting the photo down, she turned to face the sound with her hands up. Standing in the doorway was the girl in the photograph, this time in the flesh. And she was pointing a shotgun at Irma.

AN: The name Julia is a bit of an in joke to myself and anyone who cares to look up Julius Caesar. (I have a very tweaked sense of humour) I've taken liberties with Cornelia's baby giving her a kick. I don't know whether it's possible, but it was necessary for the story.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: If I owned W.I.T.C.H Cornelia and Irma would be a couple by now. Cornelia and Irma are not a couple, ergo I don't own W.I.T.C.H

AN: As one of the next gen guardians is in the past, I've labelled the timeline past and present to avoid confusion. (Something I learned writing Chaos Theory)

Present

Irma stared down the shotguns barrel at the scared young girl holding the gun. The tension in the room was intense, as the girl looked them with a mixture of fear and defiant fierceness in her eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, Irma saw her partner Paul make a series of gestures with his hands. The girl glared at Paul and nodded.

"What did you just say to her?" Irma whispered to him.

"I asked her whether she was Sarah Hall." He whispered back and proceeded to make another series of hand gestures. Sarah glared at him. Slowly, he reached into his coat pocket and withdrew his police badge. Seeing this, Sarah steadily lowered her shotgun and made a series of gestures of her own. As Paul explained why they were here, Irma watched as Sarah turned pale and the turned and ran.

"Sarah, wait!" Irma yelled out after her. She's deaf you idiot! She mentally cursed to herself.

Charging after her, Irma chased Sarah into her room. There, Sarah was sitting on the bed, tears running down her eyes as she started to rock herself from side to side. Seeing Irma enter the room, Sarah rushed forward and hugged her, feeling a closeness to her that she didn't understand. Despite the fact that Sarah had never even SEEN Irma Lair before today, she felt like she'd known her for a very long time.

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Past

Rose Farm, Sussex, England, 1942

Ellie 'Greenfingers' Smith slowly opened her eyes as the rooster started crowing.

"Alright, alright, I'm up you over-energetic dinner!" she yelled at the window. The cockerel continued to crow on regardless. Ellie grinned and shook her head. The cockerel and Ellie had been at odds for as long as she had been there, in a friendly, ongoing battle. After her parent's death, Ellie had been evacuated, like most children her age. That had been back in 1940. Some evacuees had been lucky and had been taken in by families that actually cared about the children they were taking in, becoming family in all but name.

"Get up child!" A shrill voice cut across Ellie's thoughts. Then again, not all evacuees got taken in by people who cared. And Silvia Potter CERTAINLY didn't care about Ellie, beyond the fact that Ellie represented a free farm labourer.

"I'm coming Aunt Silvia!" Ellie called back as she pulled on a knee-length black skirt and grey blouse on.

She started on her morning chores, starting with searching the henhouse for eggs. After she finished doing that, she fed them and turned to the vegetable patch. As she checked over the patch, pulling out weeds wherever she found them. Then, carefully looking over her shoulder to make sure that nobody could see her, Ellie held her hand out above the tomatoes.

With a slight tingling sensation running down her arm, the tomatoes began growing beneath her hand. When she'd first discovered this ability six months ago, Ellie had freaked out a bit. Despite a lot of surreptitious research (She had no intention of showing anybody this ability of hers.) Ellie was still no closer to discovering what was going on. Humming to herself, she harvested the now ripe tomatoes to sell to her classmates later.

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Present, Sya'tal hive 456 approximately 25 light years from Earth

The hive was under attack. Swarms of heavily armoured Sya'tal warrior drones charged to repel the intruders. The drones all looked alike, having six legs directly below their bodies and two antennas atop their insectoid heads. Instead of a mouth, they had mandibles. Their backs were long sleek shells of deepest black, covering a set of insect like wings. Cybernetic implants and enhancements covered their bodies. Twin nanotech machine cannons were mounted on their antennae and cybernetic eyepieces fed them tactical data from the central system and in turn provided information to the central system. Various other cybernetic tools and weapons covered their bodies, filling various functions.

But among them there was an oddity. Standing on two legs, wearing a nanotech suit of armour (the drones had this grown in them from the egg, but alas this girl was not Sya'tal and had not been subjected to the same treatments.), an eyepiece exactly identical to those worn by the other drones (scaled to fit her anatomy) and a nanotech machine cannon mounted on her arm. Drone 790 Laura was the only human in the hive. In fact she was the only human in ANY Sya'tal hive.

Locating the attackers, Laura levelled her arm out straight and took aim. Her targeting computer swung her arm into the right position and with a simple mental command, her nanotech machine cannon opened fire, tearing apart the first three intruders as they charged towards the Sya'tal nurseries. Ant-like creatures, the Wasra were regular attackers of the Sya'tal. Unlike the Sya'tal, they lacked the collective intelligence of a hive mind and were easily beaten off though.

Although the nanotech machine cannon was only twenty centimetres long, six centimetres across and one centimetre high, it fired over 2000 shells per minute and each shell could stop a Meridian baby mudslug in its tracks.

Taking position outside the nursery, Laura took up her position. The Sya'tal had raised her since she was only a few days old and had cared for her as best they could, but to them she was something of a puzzle. The Sya'tal tended to grow from egg to adult in six months. Six months after that, they tended to die of old age. Laura was fourteen and still not completely mature. Nor was she completely helpless. Eventually the Sya'tal set her to guard the nursery as a tactical drone. (Having discovered that she was due to become a guardian, it seemed the logical thing to do.)

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Present, Heatherfield Coroners office.

"We can't seem to get anything to ID the dead woman properly. Her dental records are none-existent Her identity forms like her birth certificate and driving license are fakes. The only details of hers that aren't fake are those relating to her daughter." Coroner Samuel Grey told Irma.

"Compare her dental records to those of a girl who went missing some fourteen years called Cornelia Hale." Irma instructed him. He gave her a strange look. "I think I recognise the woman who was killed from her photos." Irma elaborated. Raising a bushy, grey eyebrow at her, he called up the records.

"Come back in about an hours time, I'll be able to confirm or deny your theory." He told her calmly. Irma let out a sigh and Samuel glared at her. With his bushy, flyaway grey eyebrows, light blue eyes and balding grey hair, it was rather like being glared at by Casper. "Detective Lair, I am not a miracle worker." He stated angrily.

"Okay then. I'll dig up the addresses of Cornelia's family while I wait. Her little sister Lillian, I know. But as for the parents, well I've no idea where they are now." Irma said as she left the coroners office.

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Present, Students residence, Fadden Hills University.

To the casual observer, the tall, blonde haired girl with a streak of black in it looked nothing like the person you'd associate with being a successful businesswoman. The long skull and crossbones tattoos on her arms and nose piercing would look more in place on a Hells Angel or a college dropout instead of a woman whose financial assets were worth an estimated two million dollars. With her hair cut short, dark clothes and pale skin, she looked like she had been dead for weeks. But as we all know, looks can be deceiving. And in the case of Lillian Hale, looks were very deceiving.

There was a knock on the door to her room and Lillian opened the door to see a very familiar face.

"Irma!" Lillian exclaimed excitedly as she hugged her. "What brings you here?"

"Hi Lillian." Irma said dejectedly. "Can I come in? I've got something important to tell you."

"Sure, come on in." Lillian said as she gestured for Irma to come into her surprisingly tidy student digs. If there was one thing Lillian had in common with Cornelia, it was that she was tidy.

"I'm here to talk to you about something I've just discovered about Cornelia." Irma said to Lillian and the atmosphere in the room changed from relaxed to very, very tense. Unfortunately, with Lillian being the Heart of Earth, it caused a sudden and minor earthquake.

"Umm…. Perhaps we should take this discussion outside?" Irma suggested, well aware that Lillian was not going to like what Irma had to say.

"No…I've gotten it under control." Lillian said as she closed her eyes and started to slowly breath in and out. "So what do you have to tell me? And is someone telling mom and dad?"

"Yes your parents are being told." Irma replied, before continuing. "It appears that Cornelia has been alive for these past fourteen years."

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Lillian exclaimed, standing up and making the Earth shake once more, this time more violently. Standing up, Irma quickly swept Lillian's feet from beneath her and dropped her back onto her bed. Closing her eyes, Lillian calmed herself down once more and gestured for Irma to continue.

"Well, we don't know all the details, but it appears that she's spent the past fourteen years living under the name Julia Hall." Irma paused briefly, unsure as to how to continue. "She had a daughter named Sarah, who I'm guessing is Caleb's child, she's the right age and she has her fathers hair and eyes."

"Had?" Lillian asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well the only reason that we found Cornelia is that she was killed last night in a tragic accident last night. At Cornelia's flat, I recognised her from her pictures. We confirmed my suspicions by checking the dental records. I'm sorry." Irma replied, not looking at Lillian.

"Oh. Ok." Lillian said in a flat voice, the information having not fully sunk in. "Umm…It's been good to see you Irma, but could you please leave me alone for now?"

Irma nodded. "If you want to talk, you know my number."

As Irma left the room, she could've sworn she heard a sob come from behind her.

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Present, Sheffield Institute. Mr Collins history class.

Tamora Constant was bored. Admittedly that wasn't an unusual state for her in Mr Collins class. It wasn't that she didn't think he was ok as a person, but he was not one of those inspirational teachers that could inspire his pupils. And history was never Tamora's favourite subject. Still, there was one good thing history was good for and that was for story ideas. Unfortunately, she couldn't really concentrate on what Mr Collins was saying. It kept on coming back to that dream she'd had last night.

It had started off with her flying. Well that wasn't an unusual aspect of her dreams. What was unusual was what was in front of her. Sitting amongst the clouds was a floating palace of some kind, a positively ethereal building of spires and arches. And hovering above her was a pink orb on a string. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew it wasn't for her, but for someone else, someone to lead her and her friends.

Tamora brushed her short blond hair back and tried to focus on Mr Collins once more. Her grades in history were passable, but far from being good enough to let her get away with not paying attention.

From one of the boys on a table nearby, she drew an admiring glance. With her short page boy haircut, blue eyes and heart shaped face, Tamora was used to drawing admirers. Sneaking a glance at the boy, she gave him a smile, causing him to blush. He wasn't a bad looking boy either. If she played her cards right, she might well have a date this weekend. Admittedly, she'd then break things off. Tamora after all had no intention of getting involved with a boy on a serious level after all. Who wanted to be tied down by a boyfriend after all?

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Present, Sheffield institute, Mrs Cook's dance class.

Emma Black loved dancing. She loved to let her body sway with the music. She loved to respond to all its various flavours and colours. Well, as close to colours as she was likely to ever experience anyway.

As she turned into a particularly complicated dance manoeuvre, she was suddenly distracted by a sudden whisper in her ear, that caused her to suddenly lose her balance and fall badly. Mrs Cook ran over to her and Emma would've guessed that she had a look of concern on her face.

"Hold still." Mrs Cook ordered firmly as Emma tried to get to her feet. "Now tell me, does this hurt?" she asked as she pressed on Emma's leg near her thigh and Emma felt a rush of pain shoot through her.

"Yes." Emma said through gritted teeth.

"Feels like you've pulled a muscle. Put some ice on it and take it easy on this leg for a few days, ok?" Mrs Cook told Emma firmly. Being blind, Emma couldn't tell if Mrs Cook was looking at her when she said this, but guessed she was.

"Damn and I was planning on running the Heatherfield marathon this year." Emma joked as an ice pack was applied to her leg. But where had that whisper come from Emma wondered to herself. Nobody was there to whisper in her ear then and besides, why would someone want to whisper in her ear in the middle of a routine? It was almost as if the whisper had come out of the very air itself. But that was impossible, wasn't it?

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Present, Will and Caleb's apartment

"Listen, I know you and Cornelia had your differences, but she never pointed a shotgun at you as far as I can tell, did she?" Will asked with a slight grin on her face.

"No I don't think so. The thing is, I believe Sarah is Caleb's daughter." Irma replied and Will's face suddenly became very tense.

"My daughter? What makes you say that?" Caleb asked in a dangerously level voice as he glared at Irma.

"Because the woman who was killed was Cornelia." Irma replied firmly, looking Caleb firmly in the eye. "It appears she didn't die all those years ago."

"But, but, but why did she never contact us? We would've been there for her!" Will exclaimed angrily.

Irma shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't know. Yet. But I plan to investigate further. In the meantime, Sarah is staying with her grandparents."

Will and Caleb nodded and Irma said her goodbyes and left. As she left, Irma could hear a furious discussion going on behind her as Caleb and Will discussed the bombshell she'd dumped on them. With three children already aged between eleven and six, it would be difficult to find space for another child as well, especially a deaf mute. Still, Irma had a different task in front of her, one that required her attention, namely find out why Cornelia stayed hidden from everyone she cared about for so long.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Why would someone who owns the copyright to this stuff publish on ? Enough said.

Present, Realm 41

To any human looking at Realm 41, all they would see was a white void, with tall, indistinct needle-like figures floating about.

The needle-like figures were the Inaren and unlike humans, they could see Realm 41 as it truly was, a bright mix of colours that no human mind could possibly see, or even understand.

"The timelines have shifted in favour of our doom." One Inaren intoned.

"How? We have killed the mother. The child should not be a threat." Another Inaren replied.

"We must begin the plan now!" Another Inaren said.

"Agreed." The Inaren replied as one and with a flash, they put into motion a series of events that would change the lives of all it touched.

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Present, Penthouse home of Elizabeth and Harold Hale

Caleb paced nervously up and down in the Hale's living room as he waited for his daughter to come through the door.

"This is ridiculous!" he exclaimed out loud in an exasperated tone of voice to no one in particular. "I've been father to three children, two of whom are girls!"

'_But you've always been a part of their lives.'_ A traitorous little voice said at the back of his mind. Caleb shook himself. Any minute now, he was going to set eyes on the daughter he hadn't even known existed until a few days ago and he didn't want to mess it up.

Elizabeth Hale looked in at Caleb and considered going over to talk to him. Admittedly Caleb was not her favourite person in the world (and who could blame her? He did get her eldest daughter pregnant after all.) But Elizabeth had mellowed as she'd gotten older and felt just a tinge of sympathy. And Caleb had behaved very well since he'd discovered about Sarah.

Sarah on the other hand, was sitting on her bed, trying to calm the storm of butterflies that seemed to have taken up residence in her stomach. She shook herself. She had spent a fair amount of time while she was growing up fantasising about what it would be like to meet her real father, practising what she would say, what she would do.

And now here she was, sitting in a room that had belonged to her mother, preparing to meet him. _'They probably conceived you in this room.'_ Said a little voice at the back of her head whispered and Sarah recoiled away in mild disgust. There were some things a girl really shouldn't think of and that was one of them. Although Sarah's mum was still a very good-looking woman when she died, she really didn't want to think about her parents doing THAT!

Clearing her head (she really didn't want to thinking about that last thought when she met her father), she stood up and entered the living room.

Caleb heard the sound of the door opening and turned around. Heart in his mouth, Caleb turned to face his daughter for the first time and felt his breath leave his body. The girl standing in front of him was practically the spit image of Cornelia at the same age. If it wasn't for the dark brown hair and identical green eyes to his own, he had no doubt that Sarah would've been a carbon copy in appearance to her mother.

Sarah looked at the man standing in front of her. No doubt about it, this was Caleb, the man who was her biological father. Suddenly her mind went frustratingly blank. Years of planning what to say and do and when it comes down to it, her mind goes blank. Pulling her head up, she did the only thing she could think of to express her feelings about him and gave Caleb a one fingered salute, before spinning round and running out of the door, tears running down her cheeks.

Caleb stared in mute shock at the closed door where only seconds earlier had stood his long lost daughter Sarah. He hadn't known what to expect from Sarah, but he never expected her to be openly hostile towards him.

"I think I'd better be going now Mrs Hale." He said in an emotionless voice as he picked up his jacket and turned towards the door. "I hope that the next meeting goes better."

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Present. Sya'tal hive 456

The hive was buzzing. High-level dream magic had been detected around their one human drone. And a message passed through the hive; just two words that would change the life of drone 790 Laura forever.

"It's time."

In her alcove, Laura began to receive a data stream that had been prepared for her.

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Present, Heatherfield Central Park

Sarah slowed down to a walking pace as she tried to catch her breath. Anger, grief, confusion and a whole host of other emotions tore through her as she tried to organise her thoughts.

Caleb tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, mind if I join you?" he asked calmly.

Sarah stood up and Caleb grabbed her by the wrist. "Please, we need to talk." Sarah simply glared at him and shook her arm. But, much to both Sarah's and Caleb's surprise a charge of electricity shot down her arm and sent Caleb flying. Sarah ran over to him, a sense of panic running through her. As he sat up though, she felt relief flow through her, before turning round and running as hard as she could.

Caleb let out a low whistle as he watched Sarah run away from him a second time. "Ok, I think things just got a hell of a lot more complicated."

WITCHWITCHWITCHWITCHWITCHWIT CH

Present. Heatherfield park

Emma Black and her best friend Tamora Constant were walking Tamora's Golden Labrador dog Wooden down by the lake.

"I'm telling you I heard someone whisper in my ear!" Emma insisted vehemently.

"Okay, okay, I believe you!" Tamora snapped back in annoyance. "But how could someone have gotten into that position? Mrs Cook didn't see anyone there."

Emma huffed angrily. "I don't know!" she snapped angrily. "I just know it happened!"

Tamora sighed and started thinking about how she could change the subject delicately, but as it so happened, it was Wooden who did it for her by slipping his leash and making a bid for freedom.

"Wooden! Come back!" Tamora yelled after him as she fell forwards, painfully scraping her knees. Wooden turned to face her, before jumping straight into the lake and swimming at the ducks.

"Are you ok?" Emma asked her friend, turning to help her up.

"Just hurt my pride, that's all." Tamora replied in a bemused voice.

"God, I'm supposed to be going on a date with Karl Raven in twenty minutes, how am I going to cover this lot?" Tamora gestured to her grazed knees and cut hands.

"Hope he's as blind as me?" Emma asked in a deadpan voice. "It's not like you seriously care for any of the boys you date anyway, what are you worried about?"

Turning towards the pond Tamora yelled out once more.

"Come here you crazy dog!" she yelled as she stamped her foot and suddenly, much to her surprise, a sudden wave of water picked up Wooden and dumped him firmly on top of her. Unfortunately, the wave crashed over Emma and Tamora as well.

"Well maybe it's just me, but somehow I think that your date problems just got worse." Emma said with sarcasm so sharp it could cut steel at twenty paces and Tamora just laughed.

WITCHWITCHWITCHWITCHWITCHWIT CH

Past, St Paul's school gates, Sussex, England 1942

Ellie stepped out of the school gates and turned her feet towards the American army base less than a mile away. Hopefully, her contact had the coffee beans she'd asked him for. If not, well Corporal Eric Ferns couldn't have an unlimited supply of coffee he was craving.

WITCHWITCHWITCHWITCHWITCHWIT CH

Present, Candracar

The Oracle was standing on a balcony overlooking the skies of Candracar. Something was wrong. Storm clouds were on the horizon, but what they foretold he couldn't say and that worried him.

"Oracle!" called a familiar voice called over to him.

"Luba" he replied with a smile on his face. "What can I do for y…"

Out of thin air, a beam of grey dived out of the sky and the Oracle vanished mid-sentence.

"Oracle!" Luba screamed after her friend. Ever practical, Luba spun herself around on her heel and charged into the council chamber to inform the council of what she had just seen. And in her heart, she prayed that her friend was still alive and well.

AN: It's amazing how good an assignment is at getting the muse running.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: You think I'm good enough to be the owner of W.I.T.C.H? Yeah right.

AN: Sorry this chapters late, the computer ate about 80% of it and I had to rewrite the majority of it.

Present, Will and Caleb's apartment, Sunday 23:00 hours

"So your daughter, the one who hates you incidentally, is the next keeper of the Heart?" Will asked firmly.

"Seems like it." Caleb replied. "Which goes to show that fate has a twisted sense of humour. That or the Oracle's going gaga." Will glared at him. "Well you have to admit it's ironic. Cornelia wanted to be the leader and now her daughter will be."

"Well hopefully, by the time she receives the Heart, she won't be so hostile. When are you due to see her next?" Will asked.

"Tomorrow evening after her first day at school." Caleb paused. "Well her first day at Sheffield anyway. She'll probably meet the other Guardians there. Let's hope it goes better this time."

Will gave a chuckle. "Yeah otherwise that might represent a few problems." Will held up the Heart of Candracar. "The difficult part will be making sure our kids don't find this before we have to hand it over. Guess we'll have to deal with it as we go along."

"Stick with the classic eh?" Caleb joked with a grin more reminiscent of Irma than himself. "Well it seems to work. More or less."

"Heh, why do you think the Guardians are always young girls?" Will replied. "Us youngsters think we're invincible."

"True, very true." Caleb suddenly sobered up "At least they'll have you guys there to help train them, maybe help them avoid so many near-death experiences."

Will gave a grimace. "God it was a miracle any of us survived at all." She put the Heart back in its box. "I've got an early start tomorrow, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

* * *

Present Sheffield Institute Monday 08:30 hours.

Elizabeth Hale and Sarah strode down the corridors of the Sheffield Institute towards the Principle's office. Or rather Elizabeth did and Sarah followed staring at her new school. It seemed so big, so new, and so alien.

"I'll get used to it. Mom did after all. And then again, she met the boy who got her pregnant and abandoned her. Maybe not so good." Sarah murmured mentally to herself. That last thought was perhaps just a bit unfair. Her mother had never told her that her father had abandoned them, merely that she had washed up on a beach with no memories and an instinct to escape. In the absence of any actual information, Sarah had produced a mental image as she'd grown up, of some kind of caricature coward. But the man she'd met had seemed nothing like that.

Elizabeth knocked on the door and confidently stepped into the Principle's office.

"Hello Mrs Hale, it's a pleasure to see you again." A tall bald man with an egg-shaped head said in what Sarah presumed was a booming voice. "And you must be Sarah, it's a pleasure to meet you and welcome you to Sheffield."

"It's a pleasure to meet you to." Sarah signed back, glad that she could at least lip-read. Her grandmother translated for her. Her grandmother is perhaps another unexpected surprise in her new life. Part of her had always wondered whether it was family her mother had been fleeing. But her grandmother ("Gran or granny." Her grandmother had told her. "You're family.") Had been as accommodating as she possibly could, even learning sign language so they could talk! (Which admittedly, was a little rough around the edges.)

"Well let me introduce myself. I am Principal Gary Shroud. You are in Mrs Darvin's form for registration, which is just down the corridor from here on your right. If you have any problems, feel free to talk to her or any of your teachers, including me."

"Thank you." Sarah signed back, mentally sighing to herself once more.

"What arrangements have you made to help her in class?" Elizabeth asked sharply. "And how is she going to talk to you about any problems when you can't read sign language?"

"We've arranged for her to have a translator with her in class of course." Principal Shroud told her, his smile slipping slightly. "And she will have written transcripts of talks of course."

As they left the Principal's office, Elizabeth began fussing over her granddaughter like a mother hen, checking whether she was ok, whether she was worried about starting a new school etc. Sarah smiled. Her Grandmother's worrying was reassuring in itself.

"Grandmother, I'll be fine." Sarah signed and Elizabeth gave her a small smile.

"Sorry, I guess I'm being a little over-protective of late. Do you want me to pick you up after school?" Sarah shook her head. Elizabeth bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Goodbye sweetie, have a good day."

Sarah waved goodbye, turned around and stepped into the classroom.

* * *

Present, Sheffield Institute 09:00 hours

Tamora Constant watched curiously as the new girl stepped into the classroom and walked up to Mrs Darvin.

"Looks like we've got someone new." She commented dryly. Emma lifted her head off of the table and looked forward.

"What's she look like?" Emma asked curiously.

"Hmm let's see." Tamora paused. "She's about your height, has long brown hair and has these really green eyes."

"Tamora, I may be blind, but I know we're sitting at the back of the class. How can you see her eye colour?"

Because she's looking at us." Tamora replied smoothly. "Perhaps we ought to put up signs like in a zoo." Tamora paused and pointed at herself. "One wannabe author." Tamora pointed at Emma "And one growing terrorist."

Emma laughed. With her long black hair, Arabic skin tone and almond shaped eyes, a girl in their year had labelled her a terrorist when she'd started Sheffield. Tamora had stood up for her and now Emma nicknamed herself the growing terrorist in defiance.

* * *

Present, Sheffield Institute 09:05 hours.

"Hello, you must be Sarah. I am your form tutor Mrs Darvin." A tall, grey haired lady in her fifties said as Sarah stepped into the classroom. Mrs Darvin pointed to a desk at the back of the class. "You're sitting with Emma and Tamora at the back there. Emma's disabled too, so I'm sure you'll get along."

Sarah resisted the urge to glare at Mrs Darvin. She really didn't want to cause trouble on her first day after all. No matter what provocation came her way. Such as a really patronising teacher. Turning smartly on her heel, she walked up to the desk pointed out to her.

When she reached the table, the girl with the blond hair in a pageboy haircut with blue eyes extended her hand.

"Hi I'm Tamora Constant." She said in a welcoming voice as Sarah shook her hand. Her Arabic-looking friend sitting beside her extended her hand forward as well.

"I'm Emma Black." Sarah shook her hand. "Strong silent type I see." Emma joked.

"Hey, I can't help it if I'm a deaf mute!" Sarah signed angrily and Tamora laughed.

"Brilliant! Emma can't see and you can't talk. I can see we're going to get along brilliantly."

Sarah felt herself grin. Perhaps Sheffield wasn't going to be so bad after all.

* * *

Present Sya'tal hive 456.

Laura stepped out of her sleeping pod with mechanical precision and stood still briefly while she analysed the data stream she'd received during her regeneration period.

"What does the hive require of this drone?" she asked emotionlessly.

"For fourteen Earth years, you have been a member of this hive. The time has come for you to join the Guardian hive. The spatial fold pad is aimed at the co-ordinates for Candracar. Step through the spatial fold and await further instructions from a being referred to as the Oracle." The hive replied in its distinct group-like voice.

"Understood. When will I be returning to the hive?" Laura asked.

"When you are ready."

Laura stepped up to the spatial fold pad and stepped through the spatial fold to Candracar.

* * *

Present, Realm 41

"With the Oracle gone, the timelines have once more shifted in our favour." One of the Inaren said.

"Correct. However we calculate that there is still a 45% probability that the Guardians and their allies will emerge victorious. We must increase the number of favourable timelines." Another Inaren pointed out.

"Taking out the Guardian leader before she obtains the Heart of Candracar should shift the number of timelines against us to almost zero."

"Agreed. A class one tactical droid should suffice."

A slimy, humanoid creature popped into existence. At first glance, it might have passed for a fat human male. If you ignored the blobs moving under its skin. And the compound eyes.

"You know what to do." The Inaren told the creature and the creature teleported away.

"She will be no match for this one. And without their leader, we WILL be victorious."

* * *

16:00 hours, Sheffield Institute gates.

Normally at this time of day, the gates of Sheffield were deserted. The students had all gone and the teachers were still in the school. However on this day, two girls stood waiting for a third.

"So what do you think of her?" Tamora asked her friend Emma nervously. Emma shrugged.

"She seems nice enough. I think we could get real close." Emma replied guardedly. "As long as she doesn't take to using a pen when writing on my hand."

Tamora laughed. "Hey, writing on your hand with her knuckles was pretty inventive, you've got to admit."

"True, true." Emma said, nodding. "Hey here she comes."

As Sarah came running out to meet them, Tamora turned to look at her friend.

"Why" Tamora began, "can you tell precisely who's about to come out?"

"Because everyone sounds different of course." Emma replied nonchalantly.

As Sarah reached them, the three girls started walking home. As the turned a corner, an electric buzzing sound, followed by a sudden pop as the Inaren tactical droid appeared where the girls had just been. Sniffing the air slightly, it started to follow them.

* * *

Present, Candracar.

Luba glared distastefully at the girl who stepped through the fold.

"We need to talk to the Oracle. It concerns the fire Guardian and will require his direction to find the other Guardians." The girl stated coldly once more.

"The Oracle is unavailable to talk to anyone right now." Luba replied coldly. "I sugge-"

"Unacceptable! This matter cannot wait!"

"UNACCEPTABLE!?! Know your place little human, this is Candracar and you should know that whoever you represent, Candracar does not bow to threats, especially with the power of the Guardians behind us." Luba snapped in anger. The last bit about the Guardians was in fact a bluff. When the Oracle had disappeared, he had not yet informed anyone as to whom the next generation of Guardians were. And although Luba would probably never admit it out loud, she missed having the W.I.T.C.H girls available.

"It is vital because it concerns the fire Guardian." This got Luba's attention.

"What about the fire Guardian?" Luba asked anxiously.

"This drone is the next designated human to fill the role of fire Guardian." The girl stated in the same monotone she that had used since she arrived. Luba stared in disbelief. Not for the first time, Luba privately wondered whether her old friend had gone crazy. Fire Guardians were always of a fiery temperament, full of passion and fire. This girl certainly wasn't passionate, if anything, she was as cold and unfeeling as a lump of iron.

"Do you have a name then, _fire Guardian?_" Luba asked, applying sarcasm to the fire Guardian part.

"My designation is Seven, nine zero of Sya'tal hive four, five six. My human designation is the inefficient designation of Laura." The girl replied and Luba practically jumped in surprise. And yet Luba could tell this girl was telling the truth.

"You don't look like any Sya'tal I've ever seen or heard of." Luba pointed out. At this, Laura actually looked uncomfortable.

"That is true. This is because I was born a member of the human race. The Sya'tal raised me after the death of my parents"

"Unfortunately, the Oracle has been kidnapped and no-one else knows who else is due to become a Guardian." Luba said sadly.

"Then I will wait."

* * *

Present, Earth, Heatherfield.

"Don't look now, but someone is following us." Emma whispered. Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"Really? How far?" she wrote on Emma's hand.

"About three metres behind us and they're closing the gap rapidly. Faster than I've ever heard anyone move at all." Emma continued.

Sarah clenched her fists and felt a surge of anger flow through her. Tamora jumped back in surprise as she saw Sarah's hands cackle with electricity.

"I'll deal with this." Sarah signed as the attack droid rounded a corner. Splaying out her hands, a lightening storm swept forth from Sarah's hands. The attack droids slimy skin is cooked in an instant and the creature flees, screaming in pain.

"Ok, that was… unexpected." Tamora said in shock and Sarah nodded. And although there was no way she could've known, she knew that she'd just saved their lives. And looking into their eyes, they realised it too.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: You don't need to ask, do you? This is .

AN: As one of my reviewers noted, I haven't covered Ellie in the last chapter, either of them. This one should cover that deficiency.

Past, 1942 Halifield army base.

Ellie strolled forward to talk to her American contact, Corporal Eric Ferns with a confident stride.

"Do you have the coffee?" she asked firmly.

"You have the tobacco?" He asked in reply. Ellie opened her coat and pulled out a sheath of fresh tobacco leaves wrapped in paper.

"Right here. You'll have to prep it before you sell it on, but it's what we agreed upon. Now, the coffee if you please."

Eric pulled out a handful of coffee beans and handed it to her.

"Beats me how you get this stuff so fast Ellie." Eric commented sardonically as he took the tobacco leaves.

"Trade secret Eric, trade secret." Ellie replied as she tapped the side of her nose with a smile. "See you this time tomorrow?"

Eric nodded and Ellie turned and walked home.

* * *

Present, Meridian, Queen Elyon's palace.

"Your majesty, Miss Taranee Cook is here to see you." A young green-skinned girl with red hair said nervously to Elyon.

"Thank you Dorma. I'll be out there in a minute." Elyon replied gracefully, with a wave of her hand to dismiss her new handmaiden, whose expression was akin perhaps to someone who had just heard their death sentence. Elyon shook her head. "I don't bite you know." She added in annoyance.

"Of-of-course not ma'am." Dorma stuttered out as she left the Elyon's chambers and Elyon sighed. Her brother Phobos may have enjoyed the overwhelming fear and respect that came with being the ruler, but Elyon found it more than a little annoying.

"Tara, what's wrong?" Elyon asked as she stepped through the door to where her friend was waiting.

"What makes you think something's wrong?" Taranee shot back with a slightly hurt look on her face.

"Taranee, we all meet up weekly in the Silver Dragon, except when something drastic happens, when one of the Guardians come up." Elyon paused. "Should that be ex-guardians, now you guys are retired? Anyway, if it's bad or difficult news, it's either Will or you."

Taranee sighed. "You know us too well." Elyon raised an eyebrow.

"So what is it?" Elyon said firmly.

"Well, it's about Cornelia." Elyon tensed at Taranee's words. An unspoken rule had developed between Elyon and the remaining members of W.I.T.C.H to never bring up Cornelia.

"Go on." Elyon said with a gesture in a tight voice.

"Well, you know how she disappeared all those years ago?" Taranee continued and Elyon nodded. "Well she's been found."

Elyon's felt her legs buckle beneath her and she sat down as a wave of emotions hit her. Out of all the girls, Elyon had been the only one to refuse to believe in Cornelia's death. Now vindicated, she felt a confusing mixture of happiness, anger and worry.

"I'm sorry Ellie, I really am." Taranee ploughed on, taking advantage of Elyon's silence. "The only reason we found Cornelia is…" Taranee swallowed hard as she prepared to break the bad news. "The only reason we found Cornelia is because she was killed recently in an accident at her workplace."

"How…?" Elyon started to ask, her voice abandoning her.

"A truck ploughed into the fast-food joint she was working at and killed her. Ellie I'm sorry." Taranee answered and tears began to form in Elyon's eyes, quickly reducing her to a sobbing wreck. Taranee hugged her friend.

"Your majesty, there's someone who's insisting that you see them at court immediately." Dorma said as she burst through the doors, looking like she'd just escaped from a monster.

"I DON'T CARE IF SOME TWO-BIT NOBLE INSISTS ON SEEING ME!" Elyon snapped, sparks flying from her body. Dorma fled to the door.

"But it's your brother, your majesty." Dorma squeaked out, before fleeing as fast as her legs could carry her.

"What is Phobos doing here?" Elyon mused out loud. "I'm pretty sure him and his wife Miranda know that they have no authority anymore and if I recall correctly, after the Yotarn incident, he swore never to return here."

"Guess we'll have to find out." Taranee replied with a shrug as she stood up before turning to look Elyon in the eyes once more. There's something else you need to know. You know how Cornelia was pregnant when she disappeared? Well she gave birth to a baby girl, who we think might be the next leader of the Guardians."

Elyon practically glared at Taranee. "You don't do things by halves, do you T?" she asked sardonically, before walking through the door to greet her brother.

* * *

Caleb swallowed nervously as he heard his daughter open the front door to the Hale apartment. The first sound he heard was that of laughter and a couple of voices.

"Bye Sarah!" one voice called out.

"Yeah see you tomorrow Shocker!" the other said cheerfully and Caleb felt his heart move into his mouth. Which may explain why when he tried to say 'Hello Sarah, it's good to see you again.' in sign language, it went badly wrong. Elizabeth Hale struggled to keep herself from bursting out laughing and Sarah grin almost split her face in two.

"Did I just say something funny?" Caleb asked in some annoyance. At this, Elizabeth lost the struggle to stop herself from laughing and simply burst out laughing.

"You … just … said … hello, I'm Mr Potato Head." Elizabeth Hale gasped out as her laughter subsided and Caleb felt his face go red.

"Perhaps I'd better stick to talking." He suggested sheepishly. Sarah nodded, before pulling out a notepad and writing something down on it.

+ + Perhaps I should try talking to you like this, at least until your grasp of sign language improves. + + She wrote down and showed him.

"That's a good idea Sarah." Caleb replied. "At least it'll help us avoid misunderstandings."

+ + It'll take more than that for me to forgive you for abandoning us! + +

"Sarah, I didn't abandon you or your mother. If Cornelia told you that, then-"

A sudden clap from Sarah interrupted Caleb and she rapidly scribbled down another sentence.

+ + SHE DIDN'T EVEN REMEMBER YOU!!! + + Sarah took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she tried to calm herself down. Picking up the notepad once more, she wrote out the question that had been bothering her since her encounter with that…thing earlier. + + Are there any unusual traits in our family that I need to know about? + +

"Unusual traits? Such as?" Caleb asked and Sarah made a snap decision not to try and take it any further.

+ + Nothing, I was just wondering. + + She wrote. This particular trait, Sarah thought to herself, was something she'd have to work out with her friends.

Caleb gave himself a mental kick. His chance to give Sarah the talk about the whole Guardians gig and he'd made a mess of it! Next time, he swore to himself, next time I'll get it right.

The trouble is that he didn't know what time the next time would be.

* * *

Present, Heatherfield on the road outside the Hale's apartment.

"I hope Sarah's going to be okay with her dad." Tamora said worriedly as they walked away from the Hale's apartment.

"What makes you think she won't be?" Emma asked, although she had a fairly good idea as to where her friend's train of thought was going.

"Well if this electric thing she did is inherited, then perhaps her using it like that could be the sign she's ready to be inducted into a secret society of electric people and-"

"Tamora, as anyone told you that you have too much imagination?" Emma asked sardonically, cutting across Tamora's babbling.

"I'm friends with you Emma." Tamora replied in a deadpan voice and both girls laughed.

* * *

Present, Candracar.

"The Sycaw are incapable of launching an attack on Candracar and certainly couldn't abduct the Oracle!" Luba protested as Laura explained what had happened to her parents.

"It was the Sycaw who attacked the production units of this drone." Laura stated again, before pausing briefly. "The Sycaw however need orders, they are incapable of working together. Perhaps the individual who controls them has that power."

Luba shook her head. "Someone that powerful wouldn't need the Sycaw, especially as nobody, not even the Oracle, saw them coming."

Laura cocked her head to one side as she thought about the problem. "That would indicate that there are more than one enemy for us to be concerned about. Strategically Candracar should focus its efforts on the people who attacked it, they are clearly the greater threat."

"People?" Luba asked curiously.

"Very few individuals have sufficient power to bypass Candracar's defences completely and still have the power to seize the Oracle. Not even a world's Heart has the required power to do so. The most likely explanation is that Candracar and the Guardians are facing multiple enemies." Laura explained.

"Sweet Candracar, I'm not sure whether I should hope your right about it being a group of people or hope for just one." Luba said as Laura's analysis sunk in.

"We will find out soon enough."

* * *

Elyon stared at her brother in disbelief. It was certainly him, wearing the same arrogant smirk and long straw-blonde hair that was found throughout their family. Standing beside him was his wife, her hair still as short as the day Elyon had met her and with her smattering of freckles. But Miranda had filled out a lot since then and now she was a full figure of a woman with an hourglass figure.

"Greetings brother." Elyon said in a cordial voice that she really didn't feel. "What brings you to our court?"

"I know that I swore never to return here fifteen years ago after the Yotarn incident. However, recently I have been persuaded to return, to present my children to the royal court."

A ripple of murmurs shot through the court in direct response to Phobos's statement. Elyon felt an almost overwhelming shock flood through her, but fortunately years of experience at politics had, if nothing else, made her adept at keeping her feelings hidden.

"Then introduce them to us dear brother." She said, invitingly. In the back of her mind, she started to think about what her brother might be plotting.

"Of course." Phobos replied smoothly. "May I introduce my daughter Linette." He gestured and a girl of around ten to twelve years old stepped forward. With long, black hair, a heart shaped face and light-blue eyes that gazed at the palace in wonder, she didn't seem like she was even related to Phobos. However Elyon was well aware that looks could be deceiving and there was no doubting the magical aurora coming off of the girl. No this girl was definitely Phobos's daughter.

"Welcome to the palace." Elyon told Linette as she extended her hand forward. Linette bowed on one knee to Elyon.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, majesty." Linette murmured.

"And I present her twin brother, Cedric." Phobos continued. A boy of the same age stepped forward, but this time there was no doubting whose son he was. In fact, if it wasn't for the short, black hair, Cedric could easily have passed for a younger Phobos. Unlike Linette, Cedric looked around at the court with an air of disdain.

"And I welcome you to the palace as well Cedric." Elyon told him, extending her hand.

"Thank you your majesty." He replied in the same cold voice that Phobos used to use. Unlike Linette, Cedric only bowed slightly, clearly not as in awe of his aunt as his sister. Mentally Elyon made a note to keep a close eye on Cedric.

* * *

Past, 1942, Somewhere in Sussex.

Ellie watched in horror as she watched a Spitfire came screaming in and crash-landed, trailing flames. The pilot was struggling to get out as he tugged and tugged at his cockpit window. Acting instinctively, Ellie reached out with her hands, hoping to use her powers over plants to save his life. What actually happened was something she did not expect.

Instead of a tree branch ripping off the cockpit window, the cockpit window was sent flying without any visible contact at all. Seeing the pilot climb out, Ellie decided to run for it to avoid any awkward questions.

"What the hell was THAT?" Ellie asked herself as she finally stopped running.

Ellie 'Greenfingers' Smith would probably have not believed the answer.

* * *

Present, Realm 41.

"The attack by our tactical drone has failed. Why?" The Inaren said as one voice.

"The drone was damaged by the keeper of the Heart." One Inaren intoned. "As soon as the drone was finished repairing itself, it will resume its attack."

"Agreed."

* * *

Present, opposite the Hales apartment.

The tactical droid that had attacked Sarah and her friends sat hidden nursing its wounds. When its self-repair systems finished, it would attack. Unfortunately, that would take at least seventy-two hours, but there was no point in attacking now, any such attack would fail. And the creature wondered to itself. If this is how powerful a Guardian leader is without the Heart of Candracar, just how powerful was a fully powered keeper of the Heart?

AN: No, Caleb is not going to be the butt of all the jokes in this fic. Just some of them;D


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: You know the drill by now. I only own my OC's

Past, 1942, Rose Farm, Sussex, England.

Ellie concentrated on her work, desperately trying to avoid freaking out about what she had managed to do. How on EARTH had she pulled the cockpit of that fighter off? She stared at her hands once more. Who could she tell? Who could she trust? By the time she went to bed, her head was buzzing and she was still no closer to an answer.

W.I.T.C.H.W.I.T.C.H.W.I.T.C.H. W.I.T.C.H.W.I.T.C.H.W.I.T.C.H

"What do you think of them?" Elyon asked and Taranee looked up.

"Think of who?"

"My brother's children." Elyon elaborated. "What are your first impressions?"

Taranee frowned. "I don't think that-"

"T, I just want to hear what your first impressions are. I trust your instincts." Elyon cut in. Taranee swallowed.

"Well Cedric appears to be as arrogant and his father. Almost like he thinks he should be in line for the throne." Taranee started and Elyon nodded in agreement.

"He definitely seems worth keeping an eye on." She agreed and Taranee continued.

"I don't know what to make of his daughter Linette. She seems like a nice kid, but…"

"But given who her parents are, you think that we should keep an eye on them." Elyon finished and Taranee nodded.

"I'd be very much surprised if your brother hadn't at least tried to manipulate her for his own ends."

"I agree." Elyon replied in a toneless voice. Taranee gave her friend a quizzical look.

"Are you alright Ellie?" Taranee asked with concern and Elyon nodded.

"I just…need a little time alone." She replied and Taranee looked at her.

"Hey, if you need us, you know where we are." Taranee told Elyon as she opened a fold. "We're here for you."

"I know. But you should really get going. You have a date tonight and you don't want to be late." Elyon told her, a fake smile on her face.

"Are you SURE that you're ok?" Taranee pressed.

"I'll be fine on my own. Now GO!" Elyon replied with a smile that screamed false. Not wanting to push things, Taranee left. As son as Taranee was gone, Elyon slid to the floor.

"Cornelia, WHY didn't you contact us?" she murmured with tears in her eyes. "We were supposed to be best friends."

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Present, Candracar

Luba looked over to where the fire guardian was sitting and suppressed an internal shudder. The girl was definitely the new fire guardian, Luba had confirmed that, but the girl's unnatural coldness and the way she sat so formally made Luba feel uneasy. The simple truth of the matter was that Luba had become used to the Guardians being more…relaxed when they rested.

Laura sat in the main hall of Candracar, watching people go about their business. They were talking, laughing, teasing and smiling. It all seemed so…inefficient. And then there was the silence. It was deafening. For as long as Laura could remember, she could hear the constant chatter of the hive as it transmitted information, orders and hundreds of other things. It wasn't sound, it resonated in her mind. But now, there was absolutely nothing. But she was a Sya'tal tactical drone, she WOULD cope.

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Present, Realm 41

"The drone has finished repairs and is ready to destroy its target." One Inaren stated in its cold voice. "Soon, our victory will be certain."

"We calculate that the drone has a 95.6% chance of succeeding." Another Inaren stated. "However, I believe we should be prepared for the possibility that the drone may fail."

"Agreed. Should this drone fail, we must be prepared to step up our campaign." Another Inaren said firmly.

"It shall be done." The group stated as one in their eerie voices.

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Present, Sheffield Institute

Sarah, Tamora and Emma were walking down the empty corridors of the Sheffield Institute. Although the girls weren't afraid of their fellow students, they wanted to keep this particular conversation private.

"So what did your dad tell you? Do your family have a streak of superpowers running through them? Are you about to become a masked superhero, fighting crime with your dad?" Tamora shot out at her excitedly.

"You have WAY too much imagination Tamora." Emma said sardonically. Tamora glared at her friend.

"Perhaps she's about to be recruited into an age-old battle against evil then?" Tamora continued when she noticed that her glared wasn't getting through to Emma. "Think about it. Sarah Hale, part of a team of beings that fight evil across the universe."

Emma raised her eyebrows and Sarah grinned, her eyes laughing. Tamora folded her arms in a mildly sulking expression and Emma took her chance to speak.

"So DID your dad say anything about your powers?"

"No." Sarah wrote on Emma's hand and shaking her head so Tamora could see what she was saying. Then she grinned. "But he did say 'Hello I'm Mr Potato Head' in sign language." She continued, using both sign language and writing on Emma's hand. Both girls burst out laughing.

"Mr Potato Head!" Emma gasped through her laughter. "Brilliant."

There was a clanging noise and suddenly, the same slimy creature that had attacked them last night. Balling her fists with rage, Sarah threw a blast of lightening at the creature. The drone reacted quickly, suddenly snapping to the ceiling and the lightening blast shot underneath it. Before she could fire again, the drone suddenly knocked her flying with a very fast sweep of its arm. She landed against the opposite wall hard and for a moment, she was seeing double. That was all the time the drone needed to throw itself on top of her and begin slowly smothering her.

Tamora screamed and started punching the drone, but her hands simply sunk into the soft mass.

Emma, on the other hand, sucked in her breath and before she knew it, suddenly all of the air was rushing past her as though sucked in by a giant set of lungs. The drone stood no chance and was sucked off Sarah. It knocked Tamora over and Emma had to throw herself to the ground to avoid being knocked over by the drone as well. As the drone picked itself up, Sarah stretched out her hands and a lightening storm engulfed the drone. After a minute, the drone exploded, sending soggy bits flying in every direction.

"Oh yuk." Tamora exclaimed in a slightly disgusted voice, before turning to face Emma. "What the hell did you do just then Emma?"

"I just breathed in. And then…" Emma trailed off, for once lost for words. "I don't know."

Sarah grabbed Emma's hand and started writing with her knuckle.

"Thank you," she wrote. Emma suddenly slapped her hand against her forehead as the details of what she had just done sunk in.

"Oh. My. God. I've got powers as well!" she exclaimed in surprise, her voice embarrassingly shrill.

"Yeah, and now I don't have any hearing left." Tamora said ruefully. "Did you REALLY have to deafen me Emma?"

"Sorry."

"We'll have to talk about this later" Sarah signed. "Break's over."

"Yeah, and we're still covered in bits of this…thingy." Tamora pointed out. Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Like I said, later."

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Present, Realm 41.

"Our drone has failed. Now there are two Guardians active. The timelines have shifted. There is now a 52% probability that we will fail." The Inaren stated as one. "We must activate the next part of the plan."

In the middle of a circle of Inaren, a whirlwind of light spun and the next stage of the Inaren plans kicked into action.

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Past, 1942, Henley Fighter Base, Sussex, England

Squadron Leader William Harkness slowed his aircraft down and lowered his undercarriage. He was tired after a long night mission over Berlin and all he wanted to do was put his head to his pillow and sleep. He suspected that his crew felt the same way. Suddenly the air in front of his Lancaster bomber shimmered and he was forced to pull back hard on the stick. Slowly, but surely, the four Rolls-Royce engines roared in response and the nose of the bomber pulled up. Unfortunately, it was simply not enough.

The Lancaster Mk 1 bomber was an extremely tough and powerful strategic bomber, powered by no fewer than four Rolls-Royce engines. Each one of those engines generated one thousand, four hundred and sixty horsepower. But the vortex that opened up where the air had shimmered was powerful enough to hold the bomber in place, the aircraft practically shaking itself apart under the stress.

"What the hell is that thing?" William yelled over the noise of the engines and the shaking aircraft.

Before anyone could give him any kind of answer, time froze and the base suddenly sealed itself up.

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Present, Vandom apartment.

In a sealed wooden box, a simple necklace with a pink sphere attached to it glowed and threw itself at the side of the box. Will opened it and the Heart of Candracar shot out in a way that Will would not have believed possible. As the necklace settled in Will's hands, it began making pulling motions. Trusting her instincts (and every one of them were screaming at her to follow the Heart), Will followed the Heart's movements.

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Present, Sheffield Institute.

"What we really need is somewhere private to practice." Emma said as they left school. "Preferably in the open."

"Yeah, but how are we going to avoid giving the game away to our parents?" Tamora asked. "I mean, it's not like we can just vanish without someone wanting to know where we've gone."

Sarah raised her hands to answer when suddenly, a pink orb on a necklace leapt into her hands. Looking up, she saw a redheaded young woman looking at her and purely on instinct, Sarah responded by throwing the orb above her hands and mentally yelled out 'Guardian's unite!'

The change was instantaneous. Sarah, Emma and Tamora were instantly engulfed in glowing balls of light. As the balls faded away, the three girls looked very different.

Sarah wore a long, loose purple skirt and a black t-shirt that ended just above her belly button. Her figure had filled out nicely and her resemblance to her mother became more pronounced. (Although her long brown hair and green eyes remained.)

Tamora now wore a pair of light blue trousers that seemed to float and a light blue tank-top. Her short blonde hair had grown and now reached her shoulders. (This should have annoyed her, but for some reason, it didn't.)

Emma's transformation was equally stunning. Her long, silky black hair reached down to her waist and her dark, almond shaped eyes combined with her Arabic features to produce a very exotic looking woman. Her top was a purple top that split underneath her bust and widened all the way down to her waist, exposing her stomach. Her trousers were a periwinkle blue and seemed to float.

The strangest thing about the situation was that nobody seemed to have noticed what had just happened. Will made a mental note to ask either Yan Lin or the Oracle about it later.

While Sarah and Tamora stared at themselves in shock, the Heart decided to act once more. Without warning, the Heart acted once more and with a sudden slashing motion, a spatial fold was created. Without a moments hesitation, Sarah stepped through.

Tamora stared after her friend and swallowed hard. This was the craziest thing that she'd ever seen. Every bit of sense and sanity told her that following Sarah in was a stupid idea. But step through she did, trusting her gut feeling that this was somehow 'right'.

Although Emma couldn't see the fold, she could hear it. And it sung to her very bones, calling and bouncing. Without a second thought, Emma dashed through the portal and to her destiny.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: You know the drill by now.

AN: Very sorry this has taken so long to update, the plot bunny ran away On the plus side, I've put up a poll on my profile as to which fic I should focus on next. Feel free to go over and vote for one.

Past, 1942, Rose Farm, Sussex, England.

Ellie sat up in bed sharply and looked around her threadbare room, breathing heavily, but for what reason, she didn't know. There had been no noises to wake her; she hadn't had a bad dream. It wasn't even daylight yet. (Around four in the morning if her guess was accurate) All she knew was that she could feel something calling her in her very bones and that she had to respond to it, no matter what. Pausing only to pull on a roughly spun dress and her sturdy farm boots, Ellie ran towards Henley Fighter Base, which was temporarily playing host to a squadron of Lancaster bombers.

She could hear the sounds of her 'Aunt' Silvia getting up behind her, but she kept running, knowing full well that by the time Silvia Potter got up, she would be long gone, her short red hair and long legs nothing but a distant vision.

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Present, Meridian, Queen Elyon's Palace.

"Umm, excuse me, Aunt Elyon?" a voice asked nervously from the door and Elyon looked up to see Linette looking nervously in at her. "May I come in?"

"Of course you can," Elyon said with a wave of her hand. "I don't bite."

"Well…um…I was wondering if you were okay, your majesty?" Linette asked nervously and Elyon nodded.

"I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be?" she snapped and instantly felt guilty as she saw Linette recoil slightly. "I'm sorry, it's been a hard day."

"I heard you crying your majesty and, well I thought that maybe…you'd like a little company to…talk to about things. I always find that helps when I'm crying." Linette said nervously and Elyon smiled sadly at her.

"My mother used to do that when I was your age," Elyon said with a watery chuckle. "My adoptive mother that is."

"My mother used to take me for rides on her back," Linette chuckled as she let her mind drift back to her own experiences at home. "She used to change shape and pick me up and carry me up the walls and down the well with me giggling on her back."

"That sounds like fun," Elyon said with amusement as she tried to imagine Miranda actually being maternal. To say it was hard work was something of an understatement.

"Dad didn't seem too happy about it though," Linette continued as a slightly sadder expression came over her face. "He was always grooming my brother to take over our estate back home."

"I bet that sucked," Elyon said and Linette looked puzzled.

"Sucked?" she asked and Elyon blushed slightly.

"I'm sorry, it's an old Earth slang term. It means that it wasn't nice," she clarified and Linette smiled.

"No, well I got used to it," she said, before they were suddenly interrupted by the arrival of Dorma who looked possibly more scared of Elyon than she had done earlier.

"Your Majesty? There's a group of nobles wanting to see you. They want to know what you plan on doing about the new…" she paused briefly and her eyes widened as she suddenly notice Linette in the room. "The new members of your court," she finished and with a bow, she backed out of the room. Elyon rolled her eyes and even Linette gave her a sad smile.

"Give the nobility something to talk about and they will ALWAYS demand to know what I think of the situation," Elyon said with a sigh as she stood up, but it was clear that they both understood that the real reason for the noble's curiosity was both a lot simpler and a lot more complicated than that.

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Past, 1942, Henley Fighter Base, Sussex, England

Sarah stared at the frozen scene around them apprehensively and took a few cautious steps forward.

"Is it me, or does it look like everything has just…frozen?" Tamora asked, equally puzzled and apprehensive. "It's almost like being in a freeze-frame scene on television."

Emma however stood with her head slightly cocked to one side, straining to hear something she was only just picking up on the edge of her hearing. It was a kind of whirring, buzzing noise that was almost imperceptible to the ear, but it was definitely there. And it was getting closer. She stepped forward a couple of steps and bumped into something very solid, landing on her backside with a bump and Tamora and Sarah both grinned with amusement.

"You might want to watch where you're going Em," Tamora quipped in a light-hearted voice but Emma didn't respond in her usual sarcastic manner.

"Can't you hear it?" Emma asked as she held up her hand. "That sound at the edge of hearing?"

"What sou-" Tamora was suddenly cut off as something very knocked her flying and she hit the ground hard. This was followed by a fast paced series of punches and kicks hit her, slamming her into the ground and the taste of blood filled her mouth. And all she saw was a grey-ish blur.

"Urgh what the hell!?" she asked as she spat blood out. Sarah moved towards her friend, but within moments she too was assaulted by an enemy she could barely see, fists slamming into her jaw so hard it sent her flying and made her see double. Emma cocked her head slightly, she could hear that sound again, the whirring, buzzing noise. It rose slightly when Tamora was hit and again when Sarah was attacked as well. Suddenly she heard the noise again and suddenly pulled her head back and something whooshed past her jaw.

"What the…?" Tamora asked, her voice trailing off in surprise before she was hit again and she keeled over in pain, unable to say anything as she coughed up more blood.

Suddenly Emma heard the whirring, buzzing sound coming towards her again and pulled her head backwards again to avoid the next attack, only to have her legs swept away from beneath her and to land on her back painfully fast. This was followed by another strike to the jaw, this time connecting and knocking her head against the ground.

"Not good," she murmured as she pushed herself up, her head still ringing from the attack, while their attacker slammed into Sarah with renewed fury, a series of punches and kicks that knocked her about so hard that there was an uncomfortable cracking noise as Sarah's arm snapped and tears of pain ran down her cheeks.

Tamora tried to get to her feet, but she struggled to stay upright, swaying like the town drunk, before their mysterious assailant knocked her to ground once more, a series of brutal punches hit her. Even raising her arms in a desperate attempt to protect herself didn't reduce the blows from an unseen enemy. Dimly, at the back of Tamora's mind, came the realisation that she could easily die here and with a roar of anger and desperation, she suddenly summoned a jet of water that she sent streaming out in all directions.

"T-t-t-teach you to mess wi-wi-wi-with ush," Tamora said, spitting blood as she tried to stand up and failed. "You sho-"

She was suddenly cut off by yet another assault that viciously slammed into her. Their attacker, clearly unaffected by her desperate act of defiance but it seemed to be even more vicious this time, as though it was angered by her refusal to allow it to beat her to death without a fight.

Sarah glared angrily at where the attacker should be, her teeth grinding together angrily and her hand cackled with sparks. She knew full well that any attack she made could easily hit Tamora, but at the same time she couldn't just let her friend die. Emma however tilted her head slightly with a slight frown, before sending an ultra-dense pulse of air straight into their attacker, sending it flying away and Sarah sent a burst of lightening where she thought it was but missed again as the attacker shot out of the way and rushed towards Emma. Emma however wasn't caught out this time and with an instinctive leap, she shot into the air, feeling the buzz of wings she hadn't even known were there.

"What the HELL!?" she exclaimed, more than a little surprised by the wings she could feel buzzing on her back. "Why the HELL do I have WINGS!?"

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Present, Meridian, Queen Elyon's Palace.

"Lords and Ladies of the Court, her Majesty Queen Elyon has come to a decision about the treatment of the children of Prince Phobos and his consort Miranda," the Herald announced loudly. "All stand for the Queen."

Elyon stepped into the room with a calm confidence that made it clear that she was in charge. There was a deafening silence in the room as she walked gently to the throne, not out of fear but palatable respect. Elyon turned and looked at the court and nodded.

"Lords and Ladies of the Court, my brother has returned and with him he presents his children," she started calmly, waving her hand towards Linette. "As our system of government stands, Linette is next in line to the throne should I die without any heirs." There was a murmuring of assent as those around her recognised this simple fact. "But unless someone can bring proof that they ARE planning to overthrow me, then we have nothing to fear." Elyon paused as she gave the Court a firm look. Each and every single person in the room was gazing at her with expectation. "Unless I have just cause to banish them, they are as welcome here as any member of the nobility."

"But your majesty-"

"Do you have an objection that isn't based on their parentage?" Elyon snapped with a glare at the offending Lord. "Because if blood is such an issue, need I remind you that I am as different from my brother as any ruler can be!"

"My Queen, I apologise, I-I-I," the objector turned away shamefacedly, clearly embarrassed by the scene. Elyon gave him a kind smile.

"I can understand your caution," she said in a gentler tone. "And I can understand your reservations about welcoming Phobos's children into our palace, but as Queen I must rule fairly and wisely and that means that I must give a person the benefit of doubt."

"I understand my Queen," the man said, bowing slightly and Linette stepped forward with an understanding look on her face.

"Sir, I understand your doubts," she began gently and there was a momentary look of disbelief on his face before it quickly vanished. She ignored it and pressed on. "But please understand. We are not our father and we only ask for the chance to prove to the court and to Meridian that we are different."

Elyon allowed herself a small smile at Linette's words, the only thing spoiling her mood was the sneer of disgust and contempt on Cedric's face as he looked at his sister.

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Past, 1942, Henley Fighter Base, Sussex, England

"What. The. Hell?" Ellie asked as she stared in disbelief at the scene that met her eyes. She was standing outside the base and it looked as though someone had taken a picture and replaced the base with the image. Everything was just frozen in place, even the bombers coming in to land.

"What the hell is this thing!?" she heard come from inside the base and although she had no idea who the owner of the voice was, but she instinctively felt a sudden pull towards her. Jumping over the still frozen gate, Ellie charged into a scene that would change her life forever.

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Present, Realm 41

"The timelines appear to be shifting," one of the Inaren stated firmly. "Shifting in a manner that was unforeseen in our plans."

"Are they shifting against us or for us?" another Inaren asked and there was a moment of silence.

"Neither. The timelines are…merely shifting. There is no increase or decrease in favourable outcomes," the first one replied and a kind of low buzz filled the Realm as the implications of that statement sunk in. Neutral changes in the timelines were considered to be virtually impossible and for a moment their bonds were disrupted.

"The logical course of action would be to wait for further information to become available," one Inaren stated coldly.

"There is insufficient time to wait," a second one pointed out. "Inaction will shift the timelines against us."

"We must begin our campaign immediately. Further delays will give Candracar time to recognise their enemy," another Inaren said firmly. "We must not allow them time to organise."

"Agreed. Our window of opportunity is closing. We must take advantage of it. We must attack now to shift the timelines in our favour," the rest of them said in one voice and with a slight humming noise, a fold began to open.

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Past, 1942, Henley Fighter Base, Sussex, England

For the second time in less than twenty minutes, Ellie was amazed at what she was seeing in front of her.

On the tarmac, a girl with blond hair that reached her shoulders and was wearing trousers and a strange top lay on the ground coughing up blood hard as she struggled to get to her feet, clearly worse for wear and Ellie felt a twinge of amusement as an image of her 'Aunt' Silvia complaining about the girl suddenly popped into her head. With a mental shake, she sobered up. The girl was clearly in trouble.

Standing beside her was a girl who was throwing bolts of lightening about like a goddess of thunderstorms. (Ellie mentally dubbed her as the 'Lightening Girl') Her arm hung loosely by her side clearly broken and Ellie felt a sharp sense of longing familiarity that she couldn't explain.

Finally, there was the girl with the exotic, slightly oriental features with silky black hair, twisting and turning like a fighter plane caught in a dogfight. (Ellie quickly labelled her 'Flying Girl') There was something behind her that much was clear, but what was something of a mystery. The Lightening Girl was trying to hit the Flying Girl's opponent and clearly missing. The mystery enemy was far too fast for her and although Ellie didn't know any of the girls, her instincts were screaming at her that the girls were allies. As she paused to ponder her next course of action, she was suddenly hit very hard by something very fast, knocking her back hard and she hit her head on the ground.

"Ouch," Ellie muttered tenderly as she sat up with her head ringing, but before she could do anything another attack slammed into her hard, a fist slamming across her jaw and she saw stars.

"He's coming in again!" the Flying Girl shouted and suddenly Ellie was suddenly sent flying by another punch, this time to the nose, but before any further attacks could happen, Ellie felt herself become enveloped by a ball of light and when she emerged, she looked very different.

On her feet sat a pair of comfortable brown boots that stopped at her ankles and on her legs she had a pair of navy-blue trousers. Her top was a dark green flared top with long sleeves and it sat just above her midriff, exposing the smallest amount of skin on her stomach.

"What. The. Hell!?" Ellie asked in surprise but before she could say anything else, her legs were abruptly swept from beneath her and she was thrown to the ground hard, dislocating her shoulder and as she tried to stand, she was suddenly hit in the stomach, forcing her to keel over but just when it seemed impossible for her to get up again, she was suddenly grabbed from behind and shot into the air with the Flying Girl holding onto her.

"Sitting around waiting for someone to hit you is generally considered to be a bad idea," the Flying Girl said sardonically, before putting her down on the ground, next to Lightening Girl.

"Yeah, it wasn't part of the plan," Ellie replied and the Flying Girl chuckled, before suddenly turning serious.

"He's coming in again!" she yelled and Ellie stood up with an angry expression on her face, her blue eyes practically shooting out fire. With a wave of her hands, plants suddenly shot out of the ground and surrounded them in a thick wall of plant life. There was a sudden crunching noise as their attacker hit the barrier at a tremendous rate of knots and suddenly he became visible. With an angry look, the Lightening Girl, the Flying Girl and their blond friend suddenly hit their attacker with everything they had and the creature exploded in a flash of light that almost blinded them.

"Thanks for turning up," the Flying Girl said gratefully, before extending her hand. "I'm Emma."

"Ellie," Ellie said as she took Emma's hand.

"I'm Tamora," the beaten up blond said as she also extended her hand. "He'sh jusht no match for my aweshomeness."

"As you can see, my friend has delusions of glamour," Emma said sardonically. "But Sarah," Emma paused and gestured towards Lightening Girl, "and me know better."

"Yeah, yeah, you're jusht put off by my aweshomeness," Tamora said with a smirk, but before Emma could say anything back, they were suddenly interrupted by the yelling of a tall, dark haired RAF Sergeant.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked angrily and with a sudden slashing motion, holding the Heart in her remaining good arm and Emma, supporting Tamora, jumped through the fold. Sarah waved her hand at the fold and then to Ellie, who instantly understood what she was trying to say and with a brief look over her shoulder at the fast approaching RAF personnel she jumped through the fold, quickly followed by Sarah and the fold suddenly vanished, leaving three RAF ground staff looking at the location they had just left with bewilderment.

"What the Hell just happened?" the sergeant asked as they looked at one another in disbelief.

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Present, Meridian, the forest grounds outside Queen Elyon's palace.

"What the Hell just happened?" Emma asked as the others looked around at the forest surrounding them. "I thought we were supposed to go back to Heatherfield!"

"Don't ask me, it was supposed to work," Sarah wrote on Emma's hand. "How do you know we're not back?"

"The air smells different. And the sounds are different to," Emma explained. "I can hear the rustle of the trees and smell the muggy air."

"The weather is usually pretty moist at this time of year on Meridian," a boys voice said firmly as he stepped out of the trees with his bow drawn and an arrow nocked. "The question is, who are you and what are you doing here?"


End file.
